Title: Dear Canada: No Safe Harbor
Author: Julie Lawson
Publish Date: January 1 2006
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 256
IBSN:0439969301
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: Dear Canada
Age Range: Ages 9 to 12
Annotation: After loosing her the rest of her family in the Halifax explosion in 1917, Charlotte searches for her twin brother Duncan.
Summary: It's December 6th, 1917. In the Nova Scotia Harbor are two ships, one Norwegian and the other French (and filled explosives). What happened when these two ships accidentally collided turned out to be the largest accidental explosive in history. 2000 people were killed and it even caused a tidal wave. Following this devastating human error, we find Charlotte, the Dear Canada heroine of Julie Lawson's book. She has lost her family, except for one brother who is away in WW1, and is now searching for her twin brother Duncan.
Reading Log: Written in the traditional diary form, Dear Canada: Where the River Takes Me is yet another exciting, emotional, and historical adventure that makes the entire series so endearing. Stories of such bizarre, extreme tragedies are always page turners but this one is really good. The author, Julie Newsom, own grandfather was wounded (not killed) in the explosion so it adds to a quality of authentic air that makes the book so cool! I really like the Dear Canada books. I wouldn't hesitate at reading any of them.
Dear Canada Authors Page: http://www.scholastic.ca/dearcanada/authors/jlawson.htm
